The present invention relates to the dispensing arts. It finds particular application in conjunction with antiseptic soap dispensers for accurately dispensing discrete doses of soap, hand lotions, creams, and the like, into the palm of a user, and will be described with particular reference thereto. It should be appreciated, however, that the invention is also applicable to the dispensing of other fluid, viscous, and pasty materials, such as food products, where accurate dosage is desired.
Hand-operated dispensers are widely used for delivery of liquid soaps, hand lotions, creams, and the like. These are typically mounted on a wall and consist of a housing and a dispensing mechanism. The fluid is stored in a replaceable reservoir, such as a plastic container, within the housing and delivered, as needed, by actuating the dispensing mechanism. The soap-filled containers are transported by maintenance personnel to the site of the soap dispenser as needed to replace empty containers.
A wide variety of dispensing mechanisms have been developed for dispensing discrete doses of fluid. One type of dispenser employs a resiliently flexible dispensing tube or pathway which is compressed between two rigid members to deliver the fluid. U.S. Pat. No. 4,667,854, U.S. Pat. No. 4,178,975, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,377,871 disclose examples of roller-type dispensers.
Such soap dispensers are often positioned in unattended locations, such as wash rooms and laboratories. There is therefore a certain risk of tampering or theft of the contents or the dispenser. Moreover, in certain facilities, such as mental institutions and the like, there is a risk of injury to a user that may obtain unauthorized access to the contents of the dispenser.
Simple latching systems provide a degree of protection against tampering in that the mechanisms for opening the dispensers are not always immediately obvious. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,164,306 and 4,741,461, for example, disclose latch mechanisms which hold a front cover of a housing on to the back plate. However, such latch mechanisms do not provide a high degree of security.
Typically, mounted dispensers that have attempted to provide greater security have employed a key actuated locking mechanism on the housing. U.S. Pat. No. 3,540,630 discloses a key actuated locking system for a dispenser. U.S. Pat. No. 5,632,418 discloses a tamper-resistant soap dispenser in which a plastic key is used to secure a container of soap to a wall-mounted back plate. Such key mounted dispensers require, of course, that the maintenance personnel carry keys for the dispensers. Often keys are lost or forgotten and the housing is left unlocked for ease of access by the maintenance personnel. There remains a need for a secure system of locking a container of soap within the housing which does not require a key or other separate actuation device to provide access to the housing.
To mount the dispenser to a wall, the back plate is conventionally attached to the wall with screws or other suitable fixing means. However, such fixing means do not provide for ease of removal of the housing for replacement or repair. It is therefore convenient to mount the dispenser housing to a wall mounting plate which is screwed to the wall. Without a secure system of mounting the dispenser housing to the wall plate, however, the dispenser housing, together with its contents, is subject to theft or tampering. A key-actuated locking system for the mounting plate would be prone to the same problems as arise with a key system for the housing. There remains a need for a secure mounting system for a dispenser which does not require a key to remove the housing from the mounting plate.
The present invention provides a new and improved mounting and locking system for an antiseptic soap dispenser which overcomes the above referenced problems and others.